The U.S. dollar isn’t backed by gold, production, or real value - it’s backed by oil, debt, and deception.

 

In 1974, Henry Kissinger made a secret deal with Saudi Arabia that forced the world to trade oil in dollars, creating the illusion of endless American wealth.

 

That same system gave birth to Wall Street dominance, global debt, and the rise of billionaire elites while the middle class collapsed. Now the illusion is cracking - and when it breaks, the entire global economy will go down with it. 

 

How America’s Fake Economy Was Built on Saudi Oil and Endless Debt | Watch

7 minutes ago, bannork said:

The U.S. dollar isn’t backed by gold, production, or real value - it’s backed by oil, debt, and deception.

 

Now that's not quite true.

 

The USA has 11 supercarrier fleets and over 5000 nukular bombs to prop up the rules-based international monetary order.

6 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

Now that's not quite true.

 

The USA has 11 supercarrier fleets and over 5000 nukular bombs to prop up the rules-based international monetary order.

All bought with fake money 

All internationally traded commodities are priced in US$.

 

Surprise, surprise, even crypto currencies are priced in US$.

The US$ is used because it is a stable currency. What is your viable international alternative?  Chinese or Russian currency? India? Brazil? Most countries maintain a basket of currencies that includes US dollar, the euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen, and the British pound sterling.  They will also hold traditionally stable currencies like Canadian and Australian $, depending on their trade profiles.

 

Soon the USd will not be the world's reserve currency. Brics is biting into it and the 50 percent threshold will be crossed in the coming years.

 

Interesting times ahead.

Some good points made there. I said it once and I'll say it again, the current state of the economy is totally unsustainable, there is way too much hot air in the balloon, the ratios that are being used in the stock market now are bordering on insanity, and this thing's going to come down like a house of cards in the next few years, and I not only include the stock market, I include housing in the US.

 

Expect at least a 50% drop in housing prices, and a 60 to 80% drop on the Dow. 

6 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Some good points made there. I said it once and I'll say it again, the current state of the economy is totally unsustainable, there is way too much hot air in the balloon, the ratios that are being used in the stock market now are bordering on insanity, and this thing's going to come down like a house of cards in the next few years, and I not only include the stock market, I include housing in the US.

 

Expect at least a 50% drop in housing prices, and a 60 to 80% drop on the Dow. 

Agreed. But when? They don't ring a bell on Wall Street indicating that "the party is over".

 

A case in point: Precious Metals are 10% cheaper (or more) than a little while ago. Is this a "healthy correction" or the end of a Bull Market"? After the "selloff", the "rubberband" recovery typical for corrections in a bull market has not taken place. Something to think about.

 

Such technical indicators apply to all freely traded goods, may it be stocks or Dutch Tulips.

3 hours ago, swissie said:

Agreed. But when? They don't ring a bell on Wall Street indicating that "the party is over".

 

A case in point: Precious Metals are 10% cheaper (or more) than a little while ago. Is this a "healthy correction" or the end of a Bull Market"? After the "selloff", the "rubberband" recovery typical for corrections in a bull market has not taken place. Something to think about.

 

Such technical indicators apply to all freely traded goods, may it be stocks or Dutch Tulips.

It is totally and completely it is totally and completely inevitable that we will see an enormous correction not a pause but an enormous correction after this melt up is done. 

 

Fabulous wealth is being generated in the stock market. Nvidia, at least briefly, reached a $5 trillion total market valuation. Microsoft topped $4 trillion. So did Apple. The numbers are so big, they are hard to comprehend.

 

They reflect stock prices that strike me as excessive. Sooner or later, the market will take a serious plunge. Stock markets always do. President Trump’s deliberately disruptive policies have only heightened that risk.

 

 

On 11/8/2025 at 11:13 PM, still kicking said:

All bought with fake money 

Is any currency backed by anything?

There is only one immutable store of value, and that is gold. That is why China is buying up and or mining as much of it as it can.

 

Even most Central banks have increased buying over the last few years.

That fool Gordon Brown sold a large chunk of the UK's reserve. imagine what that would be worth today.

8 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Expect at least a 50% drop in housing prices,

It’s not going to happen. 

10 hours ago, blaze master said:

Soon the USd will not be the world's reserve currency. Brics is biting into it and the 50 percent threshold will be crossed in the coming years.

 

Interesting times ahead.

If by Brics you mean the yuan...that would mean people would have to trust the chinese not to interfere with currency markets. For instance not imposing capital controls. Given that Xi looks like he'll be in charge for a while, that won't be happening anytime soon.

3 minutes ago, Alan Zweibel said:

If by Brics you mean the yuan...that would mean people would have to trust the chinese not to interfere with currency markets. For instance not imposing capital controls. Given that Xi looks like he'll be in charge for a while, that won't be happening anytime soon.

 

The balance of power is shifting. Nothing will stop it from happening except for n boom. 

 

The usd will fall and the world will move past the American empire. Once usd drops below 50 percent of reserve and brics increases their gdp. Its over at that point. Do you think they give 2 hoots or not if the west trusts them.

 

Good one.

Whether or not the Chinese care is irrelevant. It's people who trade in commodities who care. And if they can't get at their money becauseof the legitimate fear that the Chinese may abruptly decide to impose capital controls or if the Chinese decide to freeze the value of the yuan, they're not going to trade in the Yuan. And there isn't enough of the other currencies to satisfy world demand even if their governments were trusted.

On 11/8/2025 at 11:06 PM, NoDisplayName said:

 

Now that's not quite true.

 

The USA has 11 supercarrier fleets and over 5000 nukular bombs to prop up the rules-based international monetary order.

 

 

The Romans had the greatest military force then known to man, the Legions (and a state of the art navy); yet they were ultimately given a good spanking by hordes of hairy chaps in rabbit skin underpants waving battle axes.

 

I know perhaps I over simplify but...

12 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

The US$ is used because it is a stable currency. What is your viable international alternative? 

For now.  Nothing lasts forever.  The British Pound Sterling was once the most stable currency.  At one time the Roman Aureus was the most stable currency.  The most stable currency is usually the currency of the Empire.  But?  Eventually all empires will debase their currencies until they are essentially worthless. The US is well on its way. Hence the current meteoric rise in the price of gold. What will eventually replace the USD?  In my estimation, something like a gold-back Yuan or some other SDR create from a basket of Eastern & Global South currencies reflecting the reality of the end of the US empire and the rise of the East and Global South. But? The USD dominance will probably outlast my aging body.  I don't expect to be around when the USD is finally supplanted by something else. 

2 minutes ago, connda said:

For now.  Nothing lasts forever.  The British Pound Sterling was once the most stable currency.  At one time the Roman Aureus was the most stable currency.  The most stable currency is usually the currency of the Empire.  But?  Eventually all empires will debase their currencies until they are essentially worthless. The US is well on its way. Hence the current meteoric rise in the price of gold. What will eventually replace the USD?  In my estimation, something like a gold-back Yuan or some other SDR create from a basket of Eastern & Global South currencies reflecting the reality of the end of the US empire and the rise of the East and Global South. But? The USD dominance will probably outlast my aging body.  I don't expect to be around when the USD is finally supplanted by something else. 

The most stable current would be one using gold and silver coins.

2 hours ago, Alan Zweibel said:

If by Brics you mean the yuan...that would mean people would have to trust the chinese not to interfere with currency markets. For instance not imposing capital controls. Given that Xi looks like he'll be in charge for a while, that won't be happening anytime soon.

 

1 hour ago, Alan Zweibel said:

Whether or not the Chinese care is irrelevant. It's people who trade in commodities who care. And if they can't get at their money becauseof the legitimate fear that the Chinese may abruptly decide to impose capital controls or if the Chinese decide to freeze the value of the yuan, they're not going to trade in the Yuan. And there isn't enough of the other currencies to satisfy world demand even if their governments were trusted.

China bad.  Like the US doesn't do the same.  Hegemony is about control including control of currency by any means necessary to maintain continued power.
I'm not a "China-Bad" kind of guy.  They are just another government, and at this point in time, the most industrialized.  And my guess is that they will lead a new multipolar world order that includes the majority of the world's population in trading alliances. The US, which has gutted it industries along with the EU and UK, will languish and fall into obscurity - well - if they don't nuke the rest of the planet in a last ditch effort to maintain control.

6 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

The most stable current would be one using gold and silver coins.

Yep.  A return to gold-backed currencies.

1 minute ago, connda said:

 

China bad.  Like the US doesn't do the same.  Hegemony is about control including control of currency by any means necessary to maintain continued power.
I'm not a "China-Bad" kind of guy.  They are just another government, and at this point in time, the most industrialized.  And my guess is that they will lead a new multipolar world order that includes the majority of the world's population in trading alliances. The US, which has gutted it industries along with the EU and UK, will languish and fall into obscurity - well - if they don't nuke the rest of the planet in a last ditch effort to maintain control.

No, the US doesn't do the same. Its currency floats freely and it has not been subjected to capital controls.

12 hours ago, connda said:

For now.  Nothing lasts forever.  The British Pound Sterling was once the most stable currency.  At one time the Roman Aureus was the most stable currency.  The most stable currency is usually the currency of the Empire.  But?  Eventually all empires will debase their currencies until they are essentially worthless. The US is well on its way. Hence the current meteoric rise in the price of gold. What will eventually replace the USD?  In my estimation, something like a gold-back Yuan or some other SDR create from a basket of Eastern & Global South currencies reflecting the reality of the end of the US empire and the rise of the East and Global South. But? The USD dominance will probably outlast my aging body.  I don't expect to be around when the USD is finally supplanted by something else. 

 

Ok, so you agree that the USD is one of the world's most stable currencies. We live in the present. If and when the USD is no longer stable,  then an alternative will be used. What is the point of worrying about an event that is unlikely in the near future? There are more critical issues to be concerned with.

 

On 11/10/2025 at 11:17 AM, JAG said:

The Romans had the greatest military force then known to man, the Legions (and a state of the art navy); yet they were ultimately given a good spanking by hordes of hairy chaps in rabbit skin underpants waving battle axes.

 

I know perhaps I over simplify but...

 

 

In other words, our empire is to meet its end at the hands,....er....paws of hordes of wilding Antifa Furries!

 

On 11/8/2025 at 4:56 PM, bannork said:

That same system gave birth to Wall Street dominance

 

So nothing to do with US companies being among the largest, best capitalised and most technologically advanced in the world, from Microsoft to Apple to Open AI?

 

Have you seen what the US GDP is? Maybe Wall street dominace has a bit to do with a few other things as well...lol.

The difference between two centuries ago and today?  Not much. Well, Up until about 2010 you could still afford rent in the US.  Not anymore, especially as jobs disappear.